# What is the average angle of attack of GA airplanes during takeoff?

What is the average angle of attack of GA airplanes during takeoff?

Depends on how slow you are going at rotation, and how aggressively you rotate. Stalling AOA of most GA wings is somewhere in the region of 14-16 degrees and on takeoff it shouldn't get above 10ish to have adequate margin.

The issues over taking off with frost is due to the frost reducing stalling AOA to an unnaturally low angle, say 9 degrees, so that the pilot gets a surprise during a normal pitch up.

• If the t/o aoa is 10°+,how about descent?What is often the aoa during descent? @John K Oct 28, 2018 at 3:42

AOA is unknown for most GA airplanes. There is not an AOA indicator in most GA airplanes. The Icon A5 is one of the few airplanes to have one (video here).

5-10 degrees will be shown on the attitude indicator. We go more by speed tho, Vx and Vy. Values can be found in the Pilot Operating Handbook that will be in the plane.

In a Cessna Cardinal for example:

Vy @ 6,000 ft / 2,500 lbs 92 MPH IAS
Vx @ 6,000 ft / 2,500 lbs 69 MPH IAS

This chapter of an e-book, "See How if Flies" goes into Angle of Attack nicely, trimming the airplane for an AOA, and even has a chart with some typical AOA numbers vs other numbers.

From av8n.com:

• The attitude indicator doesn't usually show the angle of attack May 14, 2018 at 1:55
• Correct, that's why I didn't mention it, and instead deferred to Vx/Vy May 14, 2018 at 2:12
• The question is about AoA, not attitude indicator. You really should explicit the relatioship between AoA, Vx/Vy and attitude. May 14, 2018 at 5:55

Your question title says AOA during Climb, but your question says during takeoff.

About all that can be said about AOA during takeoff is that it starts out very low, (in tricycle aircraft anyway, in tail dragger it starts out high until the pilot pops the tail off the ground) then, at rotation, increases to something higher than climb AOA, but lower than stall AOA, then decreases as the aircraft accelerates towards climb speed.

In normal climb procedures published for all aircraft, including General Aviation (GA) aircraft, it is recommended that climbs be flown at the airspeed that produces or generates the maximum possible rate of climb, this is normally referred to as $V_X$. and it is calculated based on gross weight to put the aircraft at the angle of attack (AOA) that produces the maximum excess power. This occurs at the point where the ratio of Lift to Drag is at a maximum $(L/D)_{Max}$. SO, the answer is the AOA Is that AOA that produces maximum excess power or $(L/D)_{Max}$.